Weather News

Tasman Low looms

Drew Casper-Richardson,
Sunday November 5, 2017 - 13:53 EDT

More rain is on the way for parts of New South Wales with a Tasman Low forecast to spin up late on Monday.

A low pressure trough has brought some much needed rain to parts of eastern NSW in recent days. To 9am Sunday the heaviest falls were in the coastal suburbs of Sydney. Rose Bay recorded 61mm whilst Randwick picked up 59mm. North of the bridge, Cromer had 60mm reach the gauge with 56mm falling at Mona Vale. There were falls of 10-20mm right along the east coast between Sydney and Coffs Harbour.

Sunday will be another wet one for NSW as the trough deepens and a low develops within it over the western parts of the state. Falls are likely to be heaviest over the northeast where thunderstorms are likely to develop as well. Up to 30-40mm will fall over the Northern Tablelands with the potential for isolated higher totals.

The low is forecast to track southeast across the state on Monday and rapidly intensify off the South Coast later in the day. Much of the central and eastern parts of the state will see some good rainfall totals with severe thunderstorms a risk as well. The highest totals are expected to be in the southeast with widespread falls of 30-40mm, with higher isolated falls likely, potentially up to about 150mm.

The worst of the weather will depend on exactly where the low is positioned and where it moves. The strongest winds and heaviest rain will be just to south of low's centre. Wind gusts could reach 80-100km/h about exposed parts of the coast. The wild weather won't last long as the low races away over the Tasman Sea allowing conditions to ease on Tuesday. A high pressure ridge will then bring settled conditions for much of the state.